Dear Mom: I went to lunch at Jeri Lu's Kitchen the other day and thought of you. That's primarily because you both work from the same menu — meat loaf, chicken noodle soup and — ugh! — liver and onions.

No one will come up to your meat loaf, of course, Mom. But did you ever make Monte Cristo sandwiches for us?

Jeri Lu's Kitchen, which dominates the south corner string of storefronts at Town Center in East Naples, is unapologetic comfort food. It knows its niche, and sets itself apart in fast service, reasonable prices and enough variety that the entire family can fill up.

Much of its menu comes from its predecessor, The Coupe, and although the restaurant dropped the claim to four-egg omelets, which sent a lot of leftovers boxes out of the restaurant, it still offers some of the same star items.

There's the Florentine eggs Benedict with fresh grilled tomatoes, sautéed spinach and Hollandaise sauce. ($8.49), cream cheese-stuffed French toast with fruit ($8.99) and that famous Southern dish chicken and waffles ($8.99). Come to think of it, Mom never fixed that for us, either.

Jeri Lu's recently added dinner, every night except Sunday, to its mom-centric menu. The aforementioned meat loaf ($10.99) comes out of the kitchen then, as do the dreaded liver and onions ($10.99); pot roast with gravy, potatoes and vegetables ($12.99); two choices of $14.99 steak (rib-eye or New York strip, both with mushrooms and onions); and marinated chops ($13.99).

There's a full page of seafoods, many featuring an unspecified white fish. Its grilled, blacked or fried, or done in Florentine style, with garlic, spinach and lemon Hollandaise; Provençal, with capers, garlic, Kalamata olives and tomato sauce; and Key West style, with mushrooms, tomatoes and Hollandaise sauce (all $13.99). Rice and a vegetable come with all.

There's even pasta, chicken Parm-ed, Marengo-ed or simply done with plum tomatoes and basil (all $13.99), and a raft of salads and sandwiches. The souvlaki platters are still here as well ($9.99) with pita, gyro meat or chicken and chops, and Greek condiments.

No restaurant, unless it is the commissary for the Big Boy chain, is making all these dishes from scratch. The trick is to find which are essentials the restaurant is doing the work on the most to make them its own, or which actually are the restaurant's creations.

Jeri Lu's advertises its housemade gravy for the pot roast; its eggs come fresh for the kitchen; and, as much as I hate to admit it, you have to create liver and onions on the spot. The pancakes, which come with embellishments from pecans to chocolate chips or fruit ($4.99 to $8.49), are also fresh and piping hot.

Generally, the same holds true for that lunch offering, the Monte Cristo sandwich, which is essentially a ham and turkey club — hold the greens — rolled in batter and grilled like French toast ($8.99 here). In the interest of not finding myself frozen mid-stride from the cholesterol slam, it's a rare indulgence, but good here. And if you're going to sin, go ahead splash on the syrup.

This particular lunch visit I had chosen a chicken burger, described as a blend of ground chicken, feta cheese, spinach, roasted red peppers, onions, served on a Kaiser roll, small Greek salad and french fries. I just had time to tap into the restaurant's Wi-Fi and start defining the atmosphere before things began happening.

True to its "Not happy? Try this" philosophy, Jeri Lu's has a counter, a mid-restaurant swath of tables and a maze of booths. Colors include a mix of turquoise and spring green, with knickknack shelves on the walls and two fairly unobtrusive televisions over the counter and east end.

But wait; here's our food now. Again, if you're looking for food art, try Bistro La Bagtelle or 21 Spices down the street. Lunch is a straightforward pre-formed chicken burger, this one medium juicy and with dotted with peppers, spinach and feta, on a golden bun. If you want tomato and lettuce, ask before you order. Strangely, the same goes for mustard, although ketchup is on the tables.

You can substitute fresh fruit for the fries, and the cantaloupe mix was just right for the lunch. A small Greek salad comes with many of the dishes, abundantly loaded with feta, tomato and cucumber and with just enough onion to ratchet up the zip. If you have had the good fortune to go to Greece, you'll miss the traditional green pepper chunks and the homeland's less viscous vinegar-and-oil dressing. We'd be happy if Romaine were swapped for the iceberg, too..

And for reasons best known to someone other than me, there were several slices of strawberries in the salad. Still, the creation was gone in minutes.

A container of pinto bean soup ($2.99 cup, $3.99) was coming for carry-out, and a sample bite said this is a concoction that will wear well. It is more reminiscent of a baked bean soup — don't look for sage or bay leaf flavors here — but not sweet, with a lightly savory veggie broth backdrop and a few carrots and celery bites in the mix.

The pièce de résistance is the Key lime pie, one of three desserts, all $8.99. While this didn't advertise being housemade, its puckery goodness and a crème brûlée smoothness were a vote for whoever's baking for Jeri Lu.

We'd work our way up to trying the meat loaf on the next visit, and we suspect there will be a celestial observer: Mom watching anxiously from the stratosphere.

Jeri Lu's Kitchen

Where: 3884 U.S. 41 E., East Naples

What: Family dining all day, with dishes from cinnamon muffins and breakfast sandwiches to lunch sandwiches and salads to steak dinners and evening meals; there is a limited breakfast menu all day as well; beer is available by the bottle and wine by the glass